A man who left a vulnerable psychiatric patient for dead was 'harbouring paranoid delusional beliefs', a court heard.

Jamie Charles Reed, 26, punched, choked and jabbed Robert McNeil, 60, with a pen in his room at the Great Oaks NHS unit on January 16.

Reed told doctors he came from a broken home, his girlfriend had split with him and he smoked up to £120 worth of cannabis a day before hearing voices. He said he had climbed on the roof of a church and taken a knife out of a drawer to harm others before he twice asked to be admitted to a mental health hospital, Hull Crown Court heard.

Reed, of Church Lane, Crowle, denies murder but admits manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

Giving evidence at the trial today (Monday, July 10), Dr Ramneesh Puri, a consultant forensic psychiatrist at Rampton High Security Hospital, told the jury that Reed was seen by 36 healthcare professionals in 26 days.

Read More

Defence barrister Tim Roberts said this was during the time period of December 21 2016 to January 16 2017.

"From his first contact with the secondary psychiatric services, Mr Reed was in contact with no less than nine different members of the home based intervention team. When he underwent the Mental Health Act sectioning, between December 30 and January 3, he was in contact with seven different healthcare professionals.

"When he first went to Rotherham because there was not bed space in Scunthorpe, there were five doctors and professionals in contact with him there.

"When he was transferred back to Mulberry Ward, there was entries from 15 different medical healthcare professionals," Mr Roberts told the court.